Don't Forget
by Farewellxo
Summary: One member of the gang develops terminal cancer, bringing the entire group back together. Character death.
1. I

It wasn't supposed to be like this. No, not at all. She was supposed to continue on with her life. Who was that promotion going to go to at work? Surely not her, even though it was what she had been striving for. Before she started getting those headaches. Damn those headaches, as though they started it all.

She thought back to other things. Who would come to her funeral? Would any of her old friends resurface from wherever the hell they had disappeared to, to say a final goodbye to her? Only one friend had stuck by her side, surprisingly, of that entire group.

And... would /he/ come? They hadn't talked in so long. It seemed as though they avoided each other since their final breakup. Although, you couldn't technically call it a breakup. It just sort of happened, because it had to. But that was so long ago, it almost didn't matter.

Lastly, what would happen to Charlotte? Her six year old daughter hardly knew what was going on, so how would she react when her own mother died? Where would she go? Charlotte's father was no option, for she herself, hardly knew him. Paul was merely a week long relationship that resulted in the greatest thing in the world to her, even though it was a mistake. She could hardly remember his face. He didn't even know that Charlotte existed.

She thought about this question. She assumed that the only option would be to give Charlotte to her best friend. Her mother was off in some unidentified place, and she hadn't seen her in years. And her father would have no clue how to take care of a child, give or take that she was his granddaughter. Currently, Charlotte had been staying at the hospital with her, but had been getting driven to school, then straight back. That's where she was now, since it was almost ten o'clock.

She sighed. The time didn't matter, anyway. It was useless. Knowing that you had less than two weeks to live was so unsettling. It was like being forced to watch everybody have fun while she sat there. She just wanted to jump out of bed and do the last living that she could-- traveling, seeing old friends, and maybe learn a few new things. Too bad she was confined to this hospital room until her death arrived.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" she called out.

The door opened. It was just Jackie, as expected. She always came back after dropping Charlotte off at school.

"How you feeling?" Jackie asked.

"I'm fine. Just thinking."

"About...?" Jackie looked at her questionably.

"Charlotte." She stared at Jackie, expressionless. "I... I can't think of another person for her to go to, Jackie. You're the only option."

Jackie bit her lip and nodded. "I figured." She drew in a deep breath. "And that's fine. It's just gonna be tough. You know she looks just like you."

"Yeah." She changed the subject. "Remember those days when we'd hang out with the old gang? I wonder if they'll hear the news." She laughed bitterly. "Well, why would they care? It's been years."

"Now, you know that's not true. Just because time has passed doesn't mean you don't care about people anymore. You still have the memory. You... you'll never forget." Jackie put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, tears forming in her eyes.

"And?" She looked at Jackie.

"And you know I'll get a hold of them, and tell them. And... I'm sure they'll be heartbroken. As much as I am." Jackie looked down.

It was silent for a minute, until: "No one's supposed to die when they're twenty-eight," she said to Jackie.

"I know." Jackie sniffed and wiped her eyes with a tissue she pulled out of her purse.

"I mean, damn it, it's 1988. I thought I'd make it into the new milennium easily. Let alone the nineties." She sighed.

"I know," Jackie repeated.

"I wonder if I'll even make it to Thanksgiving."

"Try not to think about it as much," Jackie offered. "Then maybe you'll-"

"What the hell am I supposed to think about, Jackie? I mean, I'm cooped up in this bed, and-" She paused. "Never mind, I'm sorry. I know you're just trying to help."

Jackie just nodded.

"And you know what? We've been doing this every day. Talking about this, like this. For the past-"

"Three weeks," Jackie finished for her. "I know. I'm used to this, and so are you."

"They said I've got five weeks," she said, "but they said it can sneak up on you, too. It could have happened last week. It could happen next week. It could happen today."

"Like I said," Jackie reminded, "let's not talk about this so much, okay? Why don't we just... reminisce? Or something."

"Okay." She sighed, but was reluctant to do something.

"Well, remember when you had Charlotte? And how happy you were when it was over?" Jackie laughed slightly, until her friend joined in."

"Yeah. I remember." She smiled. "I remember when we were younger, too. When we did all those crazy things, like stealing that giant clown from Fatso Burger."

"That thing freaked me out so bad!" Jackie said, watching her friend laugh.

"I know, I remember. And remember when Eric and I caught you and Hyde when you first got together?"

Jackie nodded, placing her hands in her laugh.

"Eric," her friend murmured. "Eric, and Hyde, and Kelso, and Fez." A smile formed on her lips as she recited her old friends' names, looking like a child.

"Yeah. I wonder if any of them talk anymore," Jackie said, thinking.

"Maybe. But maybe Kelso still lives in Chicago. Maybe Fez went back home. Maybe Hyde is still in Point Place, with the record store. And maybe Eric is still in Africa; or maybe he's teaching somewhere... maybe he's in Point Place, too." She thought about the last time she saw Eric. It was New Year's, when they all rang in the 1980s. Then he left and went back to Africa. Stupid Africa.

"I wonder why I still care..." She trailed off.

"Still care about all of them?" Jackie asked.

"Well, yeah. But, mostly Eric. Even though it's been eight years."

"You never forget your first love. And what you and Eric had was special, and lasted a long time. I think it's like that for everybody," Jackie said.

"Do you still love Kelso?" she asked.

"Well, of course. I got over him though, because I've had time to have other serious relationships, though. You, however, haven't allowed yourself to get serious after your first heartbreak, though. Just small things," Jackie answered.

"Yeah. You had Hyde, and Fez, and Ben, and now you have Cary. I just had Eric."

"You had Paul," Jackie pointed out. "And there was Hal, too. And Cameron."

"Yeah, but I ended those quick."

"Exactly, because you wouldn't let yourself get over Eric."

"No, they just had unattractive qualities," she insisted.

"All of them were really nice," Jackie said. "They were decent looking, with nice jobs."

"They just weren't right for me."

"That's because they weren't Eric," Jackie said quietly.

"I don't know." She looked up at her friend. "Do you really think that was it?"

"Obviously," Jackie said, and smiled at her friend. "It's okay, though."

"But I-" She was cut off by another knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door opened and a nurse came in. "I'm sorry, but we have to give her-"

"It's okay," Jackie interrupted. "I really should go anyway. I'll come back later."

Jackie leaned down to give her friend a hug. "Bye, Donna." 


	2. II

Jackie went to her boyfriend Cary's house immediately after seeing Donna. As soon as she opened the door, he appeared.

"Jackie." He kissed her. "How was Donna?"

"She was better today. She laughed." Jackie smiled. "She told me she wants me to have Charlotte when she... goes, though."

Cary nodded. "That's understandable. Are you ready for that?"

"Well, no. But I don't have a choice. I don't think anybody's ready for this," she said.

"Yeah, I know." He frowned. He had grown to like Donna a lot, not just because she was Jackie's best friend, but because she was generally a nice person.

"But I was thinking I'd try to find our old friends from Point Place. I thought I'd look them up in the phonebook or something," said Jackie. "She should see them. She misses them."

"That sounds good. You want some help?" Cary asked.

"Sure."

Jackie pulled out her address book, which was in her purse, and contained Michael Kelso's number in it. He was the only one who's number she had. Immediately, she dialed it.

He answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Michael. It's me, Jackie." She smiled a little.

"Jackie? God, hi! It's been so long!" He sounded happy.

"I know," she said. "But, hey, I have to tell you... well, ask you, really. You see, Donna has leukemia, and... she's not supposed to make it past the next two weeks. I thought it'd be really great if we could get the old gang back together one last time for her."

"Wait... what? Donna? Oh my God. You can count on me bein' there, Jackie. Tomorrow, actually. Wait... where are you?"

"We're in Madison, both of us."

"Okay. Yeah, I'll be there tomorrow." Kelso sighed.

"So do you still talk to anybody from the group?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, Fez sometimes. Want me to tell him?"

"Could you? That'd be so great."

"Yeah, he can come with me. And Betsy, too. I can get her from Brooke this weekend, hopefully," Kelso said seriously.

"Oh, wow, Betsy. I forgot about her. Yeah, thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Call me later and I'll give you hospital details and all that."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye, Michael." Jackie hung up and turned to Cary. "So, we have two down. Two to go."

"So now what do we do?" Cary asked.

"Well, Steven's dad owns the chain of Grooves record stores. We could call the head of the stores or something. Look it up in the phonebook, Car," Jackie said.

He opened up the phonebook and found the number. Jackie dialed it and waited for somebody to pick up.

"Hello, Grooves record stores, can I help you?" a woman's voice asked.

"Um, hello is William Barnett there?" Jackie asked.

"Yes, just a second."

Jackie waited until a man's voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Um, Mr. Barnett, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Jackie Burkhart. Steven's ex-girlfriend?" she clarified, seeing if he'd recognize.

"Oh, yeah. Jackie. My almost daughter-in-law. What's going on?" he asked.

"Well... I was wondering if you had Steven's number nearby? Or knew of his whereabouts?"

"You trying to get back with him?" W.B. asked.

"Um, no," Jackie said, blushing. Then her voice became grave. "Actually, one of our old friends has... a terminal disease. And I wanted to see if he could come see her."

She heard W.B. sigh. "Of course, honey. Here it is."

*******

She had just explained the situation to Hyde, and he agreed to come out tomorrrow, also. He also said that he'd tell Eric, who lived in the area.

Jackie was grateful that their old friends were coming back to see Donna. She knew Donna would be happy, too. Getting the gang back together would be so great. Even Cary was excited to meet his girlfriend's old friends.

*******

It was about two hours later when Jackie got the call; the call that changed her life forever.

As she hung up, she started bawling immediately. Cary ran into the room she was in.

"What's wrong, honey?" He sat next to her, and put his arm around her. "What happened?" He figured what it was, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Donna." Jackie gasped for air, and put her head in her hands. "She had longer. I just called everybody, and now." She continued crying.

Cary didn't say anything; he just rubbed her back and tried to comfort her.

"I thought-" Jackie cried, "I thought she'd last longer! I have to go to the hospital!"

"Actually... Jackie... you know it's three thirty. You have to get Charlotte. And, I'm sorry, but you know you're gonna have to-"

Jackie nodded. "I know," she replied miserably. "I should go now. Bye." She got up and left, trying to stop crying, but it wouldn't work.

*******

Jackie got to the school and saw the little red haired girl standing by a lamp post.

"You're late," Charlotte said sourly as Jackie walked towards her.

"I know, honey," Jackie said. "I'm sorry. But, we have to go to the car. I have to tell you something."

"Okay." Charlotte followed Jackie to the car. She got in the back seat, and Jackie did the same.

"Shouldn't you be driving?" Charlotte asked. "Or is somebody else gonna do it?"

"No, I... it's your mom."

"She's gonna drive?" Charlotte asked. "I thought she had to stay at the hospital."

"No. Well, yeah. Well." She took a deep breath and put her head in her hands. Then she put her head back up. "Okay. Sweetie, you know how your mom has been pretty sick lately?"

"Yeah. She's been at the hospital," Charlotte said in a 'duh' sort of way.

"Well... honey, I- she... she died today," Jackie said, tears starting to fall down her face.

"What are you talking about?" Charlotte said, in a panicky manner. "You're lying."

Jackie shook her head as she started crying more. "Honey, I'm so sorry."

"You're lying! Take me to see her right now!" Charlotte insisted.

Tears wouldn't stop falling now for Jackie. "Charlotte, I-"

"Stop lying!" Charlotte yelled as she started to cry. "Take me there! Please!"

"I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so sorry." Jackie shook her head as she continued to cry.

"But... she can't. She can't!" Charlotte cried.

"I know, honey, I know. But she did." Jackie cried as she pulled the child in for a hug.

Charlotte held onto her. "It's not fair!" she yelled. "It's not fair!"

"I know, baby, I know." Jackie continued crying as she held her best friend's child.

Charlotte buried her face in Jackie's hair, getting it damp from the tears. "I just want to see her; I just want to see her," she kept mumbling.

"I know. I do, too." Jackie pulled back and wiped Charlotte's eyes with a Kleenex, then her own. "It's gonna be really hard, Charlotte. I know it will be. But we can get through this."

"Where am I living now?" Charlotte asked, her voice thick.

"With me. Your mom said you should stay with me." Jackie looked at Charlotte to see any kind of response. Her face was blank.

"Yeah. Okay." Charlotte took a shaky breath in. "Where are we going now?"

"I have to go to the hospital to talk with your grandpa. You can come if you want, but it's understandable if you'd rather stay back. You can go to Cary's if you want," Jackie offered.

"No, I want to go with you," Charlotte said.

"Okay. Then let's go." Jackie got out of the car and re-entered into the driver's seat. Then, they drove to the hospital.

*******

It was a long drive back to Jackie's house. Being at the hospital felt horrible, especially when the three of them wouldn't stop crying. It was hard to talk to Bob about the arrangements with Charlotte around, too.

By eight o'clock, they had made it back to Jackie's house.

"I already have a room made up for you," Jackie told Charlotte. "It's just a bed so far, but we can fix it up once this is all over with."

Charlotte just nodded and got into her pajamas.

"Okay, you ready for bed?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah." Charlotte got into the bed, and Jackie fixed the blankets for her.

"Do you want any more blankets?"

"No."

Jackie sighed. Charlotte could hardly even talk, not that Jackie could blame her.

"We have to get up early tomorrow. Me and your mom's old friends are coming. I have to tell them everything," Jackie explained.

Charlotte nodded again, not looking at Jackie this time.

"Okay, well... I'll see you in the morning," Jackie said. "If you need anything, my room's right here." She pointed next door. "Good night." She shut off the light and walked over to her room.

She got in her pajamas and got into her bed. She shut off her lamp, but couldn't sleep because she kept on crying quietly. She decided to read, to keep her mind off of it.

Turning on the light, she grabbed her book and read for about an hour. Then, shutting the light off once again, she fell asleep.

No more than an hour later, the door opened quietly, and Jackie woke up and heard quiet sniffling and crying. She put her head up and saw Charlotte walking in. Then, she got into bed with Jackie, not saying a word, but crying still.

"Charlotte," Jackie whispered. "Are you okay?"

Charlotte sniffed. "I can't sleep. I keep thinking."

"I know, honey." Jackie pulled the covers over Charlotte and gave her another pillow. "Just try to sleep. The morning'll come sooner than you think."

"Okay," Charlotte said, putting her head back down and closing her eyes.

Jackie watched Charlotte as her breathing became more normal, as opposed to the sobs she had been releasing earlier, and soon enough, she could tell that Charlotte was asleep. Jackie fell asleep soon after that, too. 


	3. III

Charlotte woke up around eight o'clock, confused as to where she was. Then she remembered everything. Tears started to form in her eyes, as she looked over and saw her aunt, still asleep next to her.

"Aunt Jackie." She shook the woman awake.

"Hm?" Jackie sleepily murmured, rolling over and opening her eyes.

"You said we had to get up early," Charlotte reminded her.

"Sh... crap. Yeah, I did say that. Thanks for reminding me," Jackie said.

"Yeah." Charlotte got out of bed, and tried to prevent herself from crying again.

Jackie followed her. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Okay," Charlotte replied.

"Is toast okay? I'm not much of a cook."

"Yeah."

"Okay." Jackie made Charlotte some toast, and just as she finished making it, the phone rang.

"Hold on, honey," Jackie told her, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Jackie, we're at a gas station in Madison. I've got the whole gang with me. What's your address?" Eric's restless voice filled her ears.

She recited her address slowly to him, then sighed. "Eric, I have to talk to you guys about something once you get here, okay? I really... I really need everyone's help."

"...okay." Eric paused slightly, sounding a bit confused. "Is everything okay?"

"Just keep on going, Eric. I'll let you know when you guys get here." Jackie sighed and hung up. Then, she picked up Charlotte's toast and brought it to her. "Here you go."

"Who was that?" she asked.

"That was... an old friend of your mom's. Your Uncle Eric. You'll meet him and the other three today," Jackie said.

Charlotte was silent for a moment, until: "Do they know?"

Jackie sighed once again. "No. I'll have to tell them once they get here. I didn't have the heart to tell him while they were in some gas station around here. But he said that they aren't too far, and should be here in about five minutes or so."

Charlotte nodded.

Almost ten minutes later, the door buzzed to her apartment. "Jackie?" Fez's voice rang through her apartment. "It's us."

Jackie buzzed them in. No more than ten seconds later, the four men and Betsy were in her apartment.

Kelso and Fez instantly went to hug Jackie, but she remained still.

Eric turned to face her. "What did you have to tell us?"

"You guys... you don't know how hard it is for me to say this. But... almost right after I called you guys... I got the call." Jackie buried her face in her hands, starting to cry.

"Call? What do you mean, call?" Hyde asked, now getting worried and speaking for his best friend who was too stunned to even speak.

"I mean... that she's gone." Jackie let out a sob and watched Eric's face. He tried to remain steady, but she could tell that he wanted to break down. She took a step towards him and hugged him. They had never been the greatest of friends, but now would be a good time to start acting civil, for Donna's sake.

He held onto her for a minute, and she heard him fighting sobs by taking deep breaths, and continually swallowing.

"Damn it," Eric muttered, wiping a tear away. "What kept me away? Damn it, I love her. I've always loved her and I just let her slip away."

Kelso, Betsy, and Fez joined in the hug, forcing Hyde to, also.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen," Jackie cried, clutching onto her old best friends.

By now, everybody, including Hyde, had tears running down their faces.

"I can't believe we missed her, damn it!" Eric yelled. "How could this have happened? If we had come /one day sooner/!"

Jackie broke apart from the hug. "You guys should sit down. I have to tell you something else. Charlotte!" she called down the hall.

Hyde sat on the couch, listening to his best friends crying. He couldn't believe that Donna had gone before they had gotten a chance to say goodbye. Then he heard Jackie call somebody down the hall.

'If Jackie has a kid,' he thought, 'then this is gonna be even more screwed up than I thought. Especially if the kid could be... mine.'

To his relief, when Jackie came out with a small red haired girl by her side, she knew it had to be Donna's. Wait, Donna had a kid?

Eric stared. "Is that...?"

Jackie nodded. "It's Donna's daughter, Charlotte."

Eric still seemed shocked. "Is she...?" He gestured to himself.

"No." Jackie shook her head. "We'll talk about this later, Eric, okay?" Then she turned to Charlotte. "Donna asked me... yesterday, actually. She told me that I was the only choice for Charlotte. So now, I'm taking care of Donna's daughter."

"Wow, Jackie," Fez said slowly. "That's gonna be hard. She looks exactly like Donna."

"I know." Jackie frowned at Charlotte. "Charlotte, this is your Uncle Eric, Uncle Michael, Uncle Fez, and Uncle Steven. And this is your cousin Betsy."

Charlotte just nodded and waved.

Eric put his head in his hands and took a deep breath. "Jackie, can I talk to you for a minute in private?"

"Sure. Let's go in the kitchen." Jackie and Eric got up and went into the kitchen.

Eric started, "Where's the father at?"

"It's kind of a long story. We talked about it yesterday, actually. The father was just a week or two long relationship, and he doesn't even know. So, it doesn't matter. Donna never committed to any guy for more than a week or two after you two broke up." Jackie looked down. "In fact, yesterday she admitted to it. She said that she still loved you, and she didn't know why the feeling wouldn't leave."

"Damn it!" Eric slapped his hand on the counter. "Of course that would happen to me!" He looked down and used a more gentler voice. "Why did we not talk?" he whispered. "Why did we just lose all contact; why did this," He circled his hands around in a fast motion, "have to happen?" He looked up now, and swallowed hard.

"Eric, I know it's hard. I know it's really hard. But we all will get through this eventually." She reached out and touched his arm. "We have to."

He just nodded and was silent. Then they walked back out into the living room. The guys had continued to sit in silence, while Charlotte and Betsy had gone back to the room.

Jackie sat down. "So, um..."

Eric interrupted her. "Jackie, I was just thinking, and..." He trailed off uneasily.

"And?" Jackie raised her eyebrows.

"I would like to help raise Charlotte, too. She's a piece of Donna, and if she's a piece of Donna, then inevitably she's a piece of me." He sighed, noticing a picture on Jackie's wall of her and Donna.

"You know what? Me too," Kelso said. "Donna was part of the group. She was our best friend. We have to help her out."

"So I will, too," Fez said, nodding.

"Yeah, I guess I will, too," Hyde agreed.

Jackie smiled for the first time that day. "Really? You guys would do that? You'd throw your life away for this?"

"Of course. This is for Donna."

Jackie kept on smiling as she felt a tear roll down her face. She threw her arms around all four men. "Thank you guys so much. I know Donna would be so happy to see us all together again."

Then she paused. "Wait." She thought for a minute. "How would we do this? I mean, Michael and Fez live in like, Chicago. Eric, you and Steven are in Point Place. And I'm in Madison. Eric needs to be in Point Place due to his job, Michael needs to be near Betsy, and I have to stay by Cary."

"Cary?" Hyde asked quickly, then felt his face heat up.

"My boyfriend," Jackie answered, and Hyde smirked.

"So wait... what the hell are we gonna do?" Eric asked.

"I can just try and get custody over Betsy," Kelso said.

"Yeah, you in court? I don't think so," Eric said.

"Well, the drive isn't /that/ long. And Fez can just come with me to Point Place. And Jackie can break up with Casey," Kelso said.

"Cary," Jackie corrected. "And no, I won't break up with him. I love him."

"Well, long-distance always works," Fez added.

"No, it doesn't!" Jackie said, then sighed. "This isn't about that anyways. This is about Charlotte."

"Yeah, and your being selfish instead of putting Charlotte first," Fez insisted.

"You know what? Maybe I can just take care of her myself!" Jackie yelled, pouting on the couch.

"Yeah, like she's gonna want a guardian who cries whenever she doesn't get her way," Hyde remarked.

"I already said I wanted to help first!" Eric yelled.

"Yeah, well, obviously it's not gonna work out that way!" Jackie shot back at him.

"We just want to help!" Kelso screamed, being louder than everyone, and causing them to be quiet.

It was silent, then Jackie got up. "Ugh!" She threw up her hands in the air and grabbed her coat, opening the door.

"W-w-wait!" Eric yelled. "Where are you going?"

"Cary's." She gave him a proud smile, raising her eyebrows, and shut the door.

Hyde walked up next to his best friend. "What the hell, man? She can't just leave! This is her house!"

Eric looked out the window. "Looks like she just did. Ugh, this is just great."

********

Jackie walked into Cary's house, still upset about what the guys had said.

"Cary?" she called, waiting for his response.

"Jackie?" he replied. "I'm in the living room.

She walked into the room and sat down next to him on the couch. He was doing some kind of work.

He put down his pencil and sat up, looking at her. "You look pissed."

"I am," she simply stated, then sighed. "Me and Donna's old 'group' came, and they're like, super upset about the whole situation, obviously. Then Eric volunteered to help me raise Charlotte. Then everybody else did. The only problem is, Michael has to be in Chicago to be near Betsy, Eric has to stay in Point Place for his job, and I have to stay here to be by you."

"Jackie," Cary started, "you don't /have/ to stay because of me."

"Yes, but I want to." Jackie leaned back and pouted.

"Jackie," he repeated, then paused. "You... no, /we/, have to think about the little girl who just lost her mother. You know I love you, Jackie, but... we can't be selfish. And maybe this was meant to happen."

She stared at him. "So that's it? We're done?"

"I don't want it to be... but I know how big of a part Donna played in your life. And she wanted the best for you and her daughter. Maybe I just don't fit in that category." He smiled sadly and grabbed her hand.

"You... are the most amazing person I have ever met. It's gonna be so hard to let you go." Jackie leaned into him and they kissed.

*********

When Jackie returned back home, she was much calmer than before, but still slightly sad about losing Cary.

As soon as she opened the door, four men jumped at her. "Why'd you leave?"

"God," she muttered, throwing off her jacket. Then she turned to face them. "I have news."

"What?"

She sat on the couch. "Cary just broke up with me. He said he thinks that it's supposed to happen for the best for Charlotte, or something."

Kelso jumped. "Now I just have to call Brooke. Can I use your phone, Jackie?"

"Sure." She nodded. "It's in the kitchen."

A few minutes later he entered the living room once again. "Brooke said I can't keep Betsy..." he said, looking down.

Then, he finished. "But she said I can move and see Betsy every other weekend."

Kelso and Fez grinned at each other, then at Jackie. "We're movin' back to Point Place!"

Jackie frowned at them. "After the funeral. And we still have to tell Charlotte. Actually, I will tell her. Now." She got up and strode into her almost-niece's room.

"Char?" Jackie asked.

"I'm here." She was in her bed.

"Honey, why are you in bed?" Jackie asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I'm tired," Charlotte responded.

Jackie sat down on the bed. "You know how all of your uncles are here?"

Charlotte nodded.

"They want to help me. They want us to move in with them. In a different town." She checked for the child's reaction.

Charlotte looked shocked at first, then shrugged. "I've gotten so used to things changing. So it's okay."

"You sure?" Jackie asked.

"Yes." The little girl looked up at her.

"We'll move after the funeral then, okay?" she asked.

"Okay, Aunt Jackie." 


	4. IV

A/N: Okay, so I know Midge and Bob wound up getting back together. I've watched the entire series. But, the thing is, I've been watching reruns and they're all from when she was away. I guess that must have gotten imprinted in my brain or something because in the first chapter I didn't mention Midge at all. So, I'm just sticking with the fact that she was never there. Well, until...

0000000

Two days had passed, and now the funeral plans were all made out. Jackie and the gang had met with Bob the one day prior, and the funeral was going to be held today.

Jackie woke up with Charlotte next to her. She jumped out of bed and started getting dressed in the black outfit she had set out the previous night. Once it was on, she went out into the hall.

First, she went into the guest room. She saw Kelso and Betsy sleeping. Normally, she wouldn't want to disturb the peace in the room, but everybody had to be up early today.

"Michael," she whispered, shaking him.

"Huh?" He rolled around sleepily. "Jackie, I told you to wait until we-" He opened his eyes. "Hey!"

Betsy woke up after hearing her father's voice. "Daddy, what's going on?"

"You two have to get up and start getting ready," Jackie said sternly. "Today we have to be there for Donna, and I won't have us all be late."

Betsy got out of bed. "Aunt Jackie, what time is it?"

"It's seven," Jackie said to her goddaughter, checking the clock.

"It's too early!" she whined.

Kelso sat in bed and picked her up, setting her on his lap. "Come on, Bets. Aunt Jackie got you that dress yesterday. Let's get ready."

Jackie then strode out of the room and into the living room. There were two couches, where Eric and Hyde each slept. They made Fez sleep on the air mattress.

"Guys, wake up!" Jackie called.

Fez appeared to be the only one who heard her, since he rolled over and groaned. "Oh, Jackie, you ruined the greatest dream ever!" he whined.

"I don't care, Fez," she snapped. "We have to get ready to go."

Upon being ordered, Fez jumped up. "Aye, aye, captain," he said, saluting, and ran into the closet where his nice clothes had been put.

Jackie sighed, looking at the couches where the two men slept. "Eric, Steven," she said, hopefully loud enough to wake them up.

Neither stirred.

"Eric, Steven!" she barked, this time much louder.

Both jolted awake.

"'Cause that's just the thing a guy likes to wake up to in the morning," Hyde muttered.

"Yeah, man. You couldn't have been nicer about it?" Eric added.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I /tried/, but you two dumbasses wouldn't move. So move!"

They quickly jumped up and started moving around.

Lastly, Jackie went back into her own room, waking up Charlotte.

"Char," she said quietly, gently shaking Charlotte's shoulders, "you gotta get ready, okay?"

"Mmm." Charlotte turned on her side. "Okay." She slid out of bed and went in Jackie's walk-in closet, where her dress was.

000000

They were all now at the funeral. Everybody was standing around the casket as the pastor spoke.

The whole gang was crying now, along with Charlotte, Bob, and even Betsy, who didn't remember her Aunt Donna. She just didn't like to see everybody cry.

Everybody was starting to walk into the sanctuary until the door opened.

"Stop!" a voice called. "Wait!"

Everybody turned around and gasped.

Midge was standing in the doorway, in a white sundress and black sunglasses perched on her head.

"Midgie?" Bob cried, staring in disbelief.

"Oh, Bob!" Midge ran over to her ex-husband and hugged him, starting to cry. "I wish this never had to happen in our lifetime!"

"I know, Midgie, I know. It's so tough on all of us. Especially our granddaughter." Bob pointed to Charlotte.

"Donna had a daughter? Oh no! I've missed so much!" Midge started to cry even harder.

Jackie directed Charlotte towards Midge.

Bob noticed and pointed to her again. "Midge, this is Charlotte."

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm your Aunt Midge," Midge said, hugging her.

"Midgie, no, you're her grandma," Bob corrected.

"But that sounds so old!" Midge said.

"Uh, if you guys don't mind... the service is about to start, so..." Eric trailed off, gesturing to the sanctuary and that everybody around them was silent.

"Oh, yes!" Midge exclaimed, then looked at the casket and started crying again.

Everybody started going down the aisle, close family and friends going first. Then, they all chose a place to sit.

Once everybody was in, the service started.

000000

The service was over, and nobody made a plan to go anywhere after, so they all decided to go back to Jackie's house, even Bob and Midge.

When they got to Jackie's, they all stood in the front of the apartment building.

"So when did you guys get married?" Midge asked Eric once everybody joined their group.

"Um... we never did," Eric said, staring at his hands.

"Wait... so you had a child out of wedlock?" Midge asked.

"No, Midge... Charlotte isn't my daughter," Eric explained, not looking up.

"So who's her husband?" Midge asked, curious.

"Uh, Midgie, if you didn't notice," Bob said, "Throughout the service they continually said 'Donna Pinciotti.' She never married."

"Really? That's so sad." Midge shivered. "This stupid sundress! It was the only white thing I owned that was remotely fancy. I see none of you people followed proper funeral etiquette."

"You wear black to funerals, Midge," Jackie explained. "That's why we're all-"

"Oh, really? I feel so dumb now!" Midge exclaimed, causing everybody to exchange looks.

It was quiet for a minute, and nobody spoke.

Jackie broke the silence. "So that was a pretty sad funeral."

"Definitely," everybody agreed.

"I guess that's always the case, though, when it's somebody close to you," Jackie finished quietly.

"Yeah," came everybody's response.

00000

A half hour later, Bob and Midge left. The gang still stood in the front of the building. Betsy had gotten Charlotte to play with her, so they were running around and playing hide and seek.

"Damn, I just can't believe Donna's gone," Hyde remarked. "I mean, you sit and watch the casket, but you just can't get yourself to believe it's your friend inside."

"I wish we'd gotten here before," Eric said quietly. "More than anything."

Jackie studied Eric, who kept looking at the pavement on the ground. She could tell that the loss of Donna was taking a toll on him, and it was just killing him that they just missed her.

She was about to say something to make him feel better, until she saw a familiar vehicle pulling up to her building.

"That's Cary's car!" she exclaimed, getting up and running to it.

She watched him get out of the car and shut the door, smiling slightly at her. He looked very handsome, with his short brown hair spiked slightly in the front, and he was wearing nicer clothes.

"Cary," Jackie said breathlessly, "what are you doing here?"

She was hoping that, in the movie in her mind, he was going to tell her that he quit his job and was coming with her to Point Place. That he was doing it for her love. But she kind of knew he wasn't going to do that.

"I... I went to the funeral," he said.

Jackie gasped. "Really? I never saw you. Why didn't you-"

He interrupted her. "You were pretty upset. I didn't want to distract you, especially when you were with your old friends. Is that them?" He gestured over to the four guys sitting on the concrete steps.

Jackie nodded.

"All guys, huh?" He frowned slightly, looking back at the men, then back to Jackie. "Anyway, I came here to say goodbye. Y'know, send you off?" He shrugged. "Whatever. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you. And that I hope everything goes good for you, and Charlotte, too."

Jackie gave a small smile. "Yeah, we all leave tomorrow." She sighed. "I'm just gonna miss you so much." Then she threw her arms around his neck. "Promise me I'll still see you, sometimes."

He laughed. "Of course." He looked at her for a minute, then kissed her.

Jackie was very aware that her four friends on the steps were probably now looking, but she didn't care. She loved Cary, and she was going to miss him.

When they broke apart, she kept holding him close.

Finally, he whispered in her ear, "I love you, Jackie." Then, he pulled away.

"I love you, too," she said. "I can't wait until I see you next." She smiled at him as he smiled back, before walking away. He then waved as he got into the car and drove away.

Jackie felt as though that belonged in a movie, and she had tears in her eyes. Then, she went back to the steps.

"What the hell, man, I thought you guys broke up?" Hyde asked.

"Because we had to," Jackie said defensively. "We're still leaving tomorrow, though. We have to. And we're all staying in Point Place, then?"

"Duh," Fez said. "In the Formans house."

Eric gave Fez a weird look. "My parents can't fit us all in the house! We're gonna have to buy a... oh God. We need to buy a house."

"Well," Kelso thought out loud, "if we pool our money together, then maybe we can do it."

Fez nudged Kelso. "Hey, you just said 'do it' without meaning 'doing /it/'." He giggled and Kelso laughed along.

"I did!" He kept on grinning.

"Come on, guys, this is serious," Eric said.

"Yeah, this is for Donna, guys," Hyde agreed. "We'll pool our money together and we'll buy a house, I guess. So then it'll all work out."

"Okay," everybody agreed.

"Okay, let's go inside; I'm freezing," Jackie said, calling the kids over to get in the building.

Everybody got up and went in, walking up the stairs to Jackie's soon-to-be former home. 


	5. V

All of Jackie's things were packed, plus the small amount of belongings from Charlotte.

The Vista Cruiser was waiting in the front, along with Jackie's car, both of which were fully packed with Jackie's things.

"Okay," Eric said, "so I have room for three of us in my car. There's six of us together, if you include Charlotte." Betsy had been picked up by Brooke the night before.

"I call Kelso's team!" Fez exclaimed, raising a hand in the air.

Eric rolled his eyes. "Okay, Jackie, do you want those two?"

Jackie gave him a look that implied he was out of his mind. "I have to be with Charlotte. So, there's not room for both of them."

"Okay, so Hyde'll go with you then," Eric stated.

Jackie froze. She had barely spoken to her ex since he had gotten there. Now she had to share a near-two hour drive with him?

"Whatever," Jackie and Hyde said at the same time, then gave each other a look.

"Okay, so we're packed up," Eric said. "Jackie, just follow the Vista Cruiser if you forgot the way to Point Place."

"I haven't," Jackie simply said, "but okay."

Eric got in the driver's side of the Vista Cruiser. Most of Jackie's stuff had been put in the passenger seat so that Kelso and Fez could talk in the back 'without hurting their necks from turning around.'

Jackie got in the driver's side of her vehicle, with Hyde in the passenger seat, and Charlotte in the back.

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Hyde offered.

Jackie scoffed. "Of course not. This is my car."

"Whatever, man." Hyde shrugged.

"You buckled up, honey?" Jackie asked.

"I'm getting there," Hyde joked.

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I was talking to Charlotte."

"Yeah, I am," came Charlotte's reply.

"Okay, then we can go." Jackie started driving, following the Vista Cruiser.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and Jackie didn't want to turn on the radio -God knows that the two had shared many arguments over genres of music- so she started talking.

"You ever talk to that stripper again?" she asked hesitantly.

"Who, Sam?" Hyde asked.

"Well, duh. I'm hoping there wasn't another stripper." Jackie rolled her eyes.

Hyde scoffed. "Why do you care? You left right after that anyway." Then his tone got softer. "And no, I haven't. Doesn't matter to me anyways."

"Yeah, that stupid whore," Jackie said, momentarily forgetting the zen she had been trying to maintain the whole car ride, and the fact that a child was in the backseat.

"Yeah, it never seemed like you took a liking to her," Hyde said, part sacrasm.

"Well, of course not. That's when everybody stopped talking to me. Then I got so desperate I hooked up with Fez! Ew." She frowned, recalling the memory. "When him and I broke up, I felt there was no reason to stay. Donna felt the same way, with Eric gone and everything." She stared hard at the road. "Donna didn't think Eric would leave at first. Because he kissed her on New Year's."

"Yeah, well Forman's a dumbass. We've all known that since day one," Hyde commented.

Jackie just shrugged, then remembered Charlotte. "You good back there, Char?" she asked, looking in the mirror to make eye contact with the child.

"Yes," Charlotte said. Jackie hadn't bagged all of her stuff, so she was currently hugging her teddy bear with her head leaning against the seat, obviously trying to sleep.

Jackie was quiet for another minute. Then she opened her mouth, "So-"

"You just can't stop talking, can you?" Hyde asked.

Jackie shot him a death glare.

"Hey, eyes on the road, Jacks," Hyde reminded her.

Jackie smiled a little. "You just called me 'Jacks,'" she said.

Hyde shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

Jackie also shrugged. "I don't know. Nobody else has ever called me that before, besides you. And you haven't called me that since we dated."

She felt a rush of affection for him shoot through her. 'Steven and I really had something special before,' she thought. Then she quickly shot the thought out of her head, remembering Cary. She loved him and she wouldn't be able to move on that fast.

Well, she's surprised us before.

"Yeah, well whatever," Hyde remarked.

An hour later, Charlotte woke up from her little nap.

"Aunt Jackie, when are we gonna be there?" she asked sleepily

"About a half hour," Jackie told her. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Charlotte went back to looking at a book with very few words in it that Jackie had left out for her. Charlotte could read a little bit, though.

Jackie looked at Hyde, just to see what he was doing.

"What?" he asked, seeing her look at him.

"Nothing. I was just seeing what you were doing," she said.

"What do you think, I'm bungee jumping in here or something? Hell no. You haven't even put on the radio," Hyde said.

"That's 'cause we always fight about music," Jackie said.

"Fight, as in the present tense of fought?" Hyde asked, eyebrows raised. "That's funny, considering you left so many years ago and this is basically the first time I've had a conversation with you since then."

"I mean, things probably haven't changed," Jackie said uneasily.

"No, Jackie, they definitely have," Hyde said, then he stopped talking.

"Like how?" Jackie asked.

"I mean, I don't know. You and Donna left. You know what happened. And it just kinda sucked, I guess, because it was just me and Fez. You and Donna went to Madison, Kelso went to Chicago, and Eric went back to Africa," Hyde said, losing a grip on his zen.

"What about Leo?" Jackie asked.

"Leo don't know what he's doing half the time, man," Hyde said. "I don't even know where he is anymore."

Jackie was silent until: "We didn't intend on leaving you. And I'm sorry if you felt that way. We just... we needed to get out of there. Donna's heart was broken when Eric left, and I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't totally over you either. When we were in high school, everything seemed so great for all of us. That all fell apart when Eric and Michael left, and when we broke up, I guess." She sighed. "In my opinion."

"I guess that's when it happened for all of us. Most of the gang fell apart, too. I only talked to Forman, you only talked to Donna, and Kelso said he and Fez talked sometimes." Hyde shrugged.

Jackie frowned and thought. The gang was never supposed to split. The way that they all had acted around each other was a one of a kind chemistry. Losing a member should have taken a toll on the group, making it fall apart. But instead, they were back together.

"I think Donna wanted us all to be together again. I think that's why we're all talking now. Don't you?" Jackie asked.

"Maybe," Hyde said. Jackie always had an overactive imagination. But this could be true. The gang was now almost back together. It wasn't the same without Donna, but Charlotte looked so much like her, it was almost like she was still there.

000000

A half hour later, they arrived at the house that Mrs. Forman had found for all of them. Once Eric had called to tell her the news, she went out to find a perfect house, insisting that the gang had to be together as soon as possible.

"Nice place," Hyde commented as he stepped out of the car.

"It's okay," Jackie said, smiling at it.

Eric, Kelso, and Fez had arrived about ten minutes before, so they were inside already.

Hyde opened up the trunk and started picking up bags. He heard Jackie open the back door.

"Uh, Steven?" she called.

"What's wrong?"

"Charlotte's asleep again. Could you...?"

Hyde walked over there and picked up the little girl, still holding two of Jackie's bags in the other hand.

"Thanks," Jackie mouthed to him, grabbing a small bag from the car.

They walked inside to find the place almost completely furnished.

"Eric, your mom did all of this?" Jackie asked in disbelief.

"Actually, she told me she hired a decorator," Eric said. "Fenton." He displayed a sour look on his face.

"Where's Charlotte's room?" Hyde asked, still holding the little girl.

"I don't know," Eric said. "Mom, where's Charlotte's room?" he called up the stairs.

"Up here!" Kitty Forman's voice called.

Hyde went up the stairs to find his surrogate mother in the little girl's bedroom. He set Charlotte down on the bed, along with one of the bags that was hers.

"Steven, it's so good to have you back!" Kitty hugged him, then looked at Charlotte. "Oh my goodness, so this is Donna's daughter." She wiped a tear from her eye. "She looks just like her."

"Yeah, I know," Hyde replied.

Jackie walked up the stairs, two bags in hand. "Steven, are you gonna help me or-" She stopped when she saw Kitty. "Mrs. Forman!"

"Oh, Jackie!" Kitty ran over and hugged her for a minute. "It's been too long. I'm so sorry about Donna. I know Eric's taking it pretty hard."

"I know," Jackie said sadly. "We've got our own little piece of her, though," she said, gesturing to Charlotte, asleep on the bed.

"Well, we sure do," Kitty said. "I can't wait to properly meet her."

"She's so mature," Jackie commented. "I'm so sorry that she had to go through this. Without a father, too."

"That's what Eric said," Kitty told her. "I think that he's hoping to be a strong father figure in her life."

Jackie smiled. "Yeah, I kind of figured." She smiled again and walked out of the room, back downstairs to see if Hyde had brought up all of her bags yet.

He and Kelso were carrying the last few upstairs.

"Damn, Jackie," Kelso said, "what's in here?"

"Everything." Jackie pursed her lips and waited for the twos guys to come up.

They brought them into Jackie's room, which was right next to Charlotte's.

Jackie fell onto her bed dramatically. "Oh, everything is perfect here. I'm so thankful that we have this. I just wish Donna was here." She rolled over and looked at Hyde and Kelso, who were setting down the bags.

"If you think I'm unpacking those, then you're wrong," Hyde said, pointing to the bags.

Jackie pouted and gave him a look like she did when they were dating. Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, man, I'll do it, if you help me," he said to her, noticing that Kelso had already left.

"Whatever," Jackie repeated after him, rolling off of the bed and sitting on the floor, next to him. She grabbed a bag and unzipped it, pulling out clothes.

"So you like it then," Hyde asked, sounding more like a statement.

"Yeah. It's really nice." She smiled down at her hands as she refolded the shirt she had just pulled out.

"Yeah, it's cool," Hyde agreed.

"So, Charlotte," Jackie said. "I feel so bad for her. I mean, I'm hoping we all can get her to break out of her shell a little bit. She's so... quiet."

"I noticed," Hyde said. "Yeah, if she's anything like Donna, then she definitely won't be quiet for long."

Jackie just smiled again. "I miss her."

"Yeah, me too. I wish we could have seen her, too. It really sucks." Hyde frowned, thinking about their old friend.

"Yeah." Jackie thought about Donna, too. "I remember when she and Eric freaked out when we got together." She laughed.

Hyde laughed along. "Yeah, they were pissed. Said we were 'creepy and unnatural.'"

"But remember, after we broke up, though, she said that we were better when we were together. So technically, we were right all along," Jackie said, blushing.

"I wouldn't say that," Hyde said. "We aren't together now."

"Yeah, I didn't mean that like... that. I'm not saying we should be together; I'm just saying what Donna said." Jackie's face was red now.

"Plus, remember, we were only into the relationship when it was 'forbidden,'" Hyde said, making air quotes.

"Yeah. And nothing's forbidden now, not really, so we won't be into it." She smiled fakely. "I mean, we aren't," she added quickly.

"Yup. Definitely not," Hyde said slowly as they both leaned in. As if it was meant to happen all along, their lips met and they kept kissing. One thing led to another, and Jackie was glad that Kelso had shut the door when he left. Maybe his claims to be a psychic were true.

Before they knew it, they were on Jackie's bed; however, they had no condoms. This fact, though, seemed to be forgotten by the two of them.

000000

An hour later, Jackie and Hyde had finished, and were finishing unpacking Jackie's stuff. It was no longer awkward, but nobody else knew... yet.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Jackie called.

Charlotte gently opened the door.

"Hey, you just wake up?" Jackie asked her.

She nodded.

"You should take a look around the house. It's really nice. I'm sure Uncle Eric, Uncle Fez, and Uncle Michael are downstairs." Jackie smiled at the girl.

"Okay," she said, shutting the door.

"Okay." Charlotte shut the door and went back downstairs. 


	6. VI

A/N: Hey, sorry it's been a while! I couldn't really think of other ways to get it started. But anyways, enjoy and review!

00000

Charlotte walked down the stairs quietly and saw her uncles sitting on the couch, along with an older woman.

"And I tried to get Red to come," the woman was saying, "but you know how stubborn he is. He refused to come due to the Packers game."

Charlotte walked into the living room, and everybody noticed quickly.

"Is that Donna's daughter?" the woman asked.

Eric nodded. "Yeah, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is your Grandma Kitty."

Charlotte waved and smiled at her grandma.

"Oh, she looks just like Donna!" Kitty exclaimed, jumping up to give the girl a hug. "Honey, you're just the sweetest thing!"

"Thanks," Charlotte said, smiling. She liked her Grandma Kitty. She was nice.

"Oh, honey," Kitty said, glancing at the clock, "I would love to stay to get to know you, but I have to get dinner on for your Grandpa Red. I just wanted to meet you after you woke up."

"Okay," Charlotte said. "Bye." She hugged her grandma again, as Kitty got up, telling everybody goodbye before leaving.

"Come here, Charlotte," Eric said, patting the spot next to him on the couch. "You can sit by me."

Charlotte went over and sat next to him. "So are you guys really my uncles?" she asked, looking at the men questionably.

"Well... not exactly," Eric said, sounding unsure.

"Your mom was our best friend," Kelso said. "Well, me and Uncle Fez anyway. She and Uncle Eric were dating for a long time until they broke up since he left for Africa."

"Wow, Kelso, don't you know how to tell a story," Eric said, hitting his friend upside the head lightly.

"You were with my mommy?" Charlotte asked.

Eric nodded awkwardly.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "So does that mean that you're my daddy?"

Eric's heart melted, looking at the hopeful girl. He wished that he was, but he had to tell her the truth. "No, I'm not, Char," he said sadly.

"Oh." Charlotte looked down.

"Are your Aunt Jackie and Uncle Steven upstairs still?" Eric asked her.

"Yeah." Charlotte nodded.

"God, what have they been doing up there?" Eric thought, then shook his head. "No, I don't want to know."

"I do!" Fez shouted, running upstairs.

"Me too!" Kelso followed.

Eric watched his perverted friends leave, shaking his head slightly. Then he turned back to Charlotte.

"You know, you really do look just like your mom," Eric said, smiling.

"I know, everybody tells me that," Charlotte said.

Eric smiled, then thought. "I bet you really miss her, huh?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said, looking back down.

"I do, too," Eric said quietly.

"Do you love her?" Charlotte asked, then corrected herself. "I mean, did you love her?"

"No," Eric said. "I /do/ love her." He smiled at the little girl sadly, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"How can you love her when she's gone?" Charlotte finally asked, her eyes filling with tears.

Eric paused. "Because she's not gone. She's always here. Especially in you. I see a lot of her in you." He smiled again and ruffled her hair slightly.

Charlotte started crying. She couldn't help it, but the lump in her throat was too big to swallow, and there were too many tears to occupy the edges of her eyes as they spilled over.

Eric just hugged her, letting her cry on his shoulder. "It's okay," he said quietly.

"No," Charlotte said, her voice muffled. "I miss her. A lot."

"I know you do," Eric said. "I-I don't know what to say. But you've got me, and the rest of your uncles, and Aunt Jackie. You got us. We'll try and make it okay," he said, trying to reassure her.

He just felt her bury her face in his shoulder, tears soaking his shirt.

Everybody was just then walking down the stairs. Jackie was the first down the staircase after she heard Charlotte start crying.

She ran towards Eric and was about to ask why, moving her mouth, but Eric put a finger to his mouth.

"Shh," he mouthed. A few minutes later, Charlotte lifted her head up, only slightly crying, when Jackie sat down next to her.

"You okay, Char?" Jackie asked, touching the girl's shoulder.

Charlotte nodded slowly.

00000

Two weeks later, Charlotte was almost getting used to living with her aunt and uncles. She had switched schools, but it was all getting easier slowly. Most of all, she had found a good friend in her Uncle Eric. Actually, he was more like her father, something she never had. Of course, Eric took this as an honor, too.

Charlotte got off the school bus and walked into the house, where Eric was sitting on the couch with a book in his hand. He had gotten home from work an hour prior, since the high school got out earlier.

"Hey, Char!" he called brightly from the couch.

"Hi, Uncle Eric!" She ran over to him and sat next to him on the couch. "What're you doing?"

Eric shut the book and sighed. "I'm looking at a photo album from when me and my friends were teenagers."

"Is my mommy in it?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Eric looked for a reaction in the child.

"Well, can I look at it, too?" Charlotte asked.

Eric shrugged. "Sure."

He opened up the album, the first page showing pictures of the Todd Rundgren concert. The first picture was one of the stage, where Todd Rundgren was performing. The next was one of the flamboyant men who gave Eric the car battery, posing for the camera.

Eric laughed and flipped the page. This one was of him and Donna. His arm was clasped around her shoulder in a 'best friends' sort of way, and she was looking at him, her mouth open from laughing at something. He was smiling smugly at the camera, his thumb clearly visible in the picture from taking it.

"Mommy had red hair, too?" Charlotte asked, shocked.

"Yeah. I guess she never dyed it back," Eric said. "She dyed it blonde after we graduated."

"Oh." Charlotte kept looking at the picture. "She looks really different in that picture." She smiled a little bit.

Eric grinned, looking at the little girl. Then, he looked at the picture under it. It was of Fez, Hyde, and Donna, flipping off the camera. He quickly flipped the page.

The next page was pictures from his seventeenth birthday. A picture of him scowling while donning a paper crown and sitting in the green chair was next. He shook his head, laughing at the picture. His mother was standing next to him in it, grinning as wide as ever, her hand clasped on his shoulder. Red must have taken the picture for her.

"That's you and Grandma Kitty?" Charlotte asked.

"Yup," Eric said, smiling. "It was my seventeenth birthday."

Next was a picture of him sadly holding up the eight-track player, along with the cassettes. Donna was behind him, on the couch, laughing at his misfortune, while Hyde was next to Eric, pointing at him and grinning.

"There's Mommy again," Charlotte said, pointing to Donna in the picture.

Eric smiled. "Yeah, there she is."

"Will you tell me a story about her? Like one where all of you guys did something funny. I want to know some things that happened." Charlotte smiled brightly, hopeful.

"Well, all right." Eric laughed, leaning back and trying to think of an appropriate story to tell. "Okay, I got one."

Charlotte nodded eagerly, waiting for him to go on.

Eric started, "Okay, well... one time, your Uncle Kelso... well, you know Betsy?"

Charlotte nodded.

"Well, when she was a baby, Uncle Kelso had to choose who her godparents were. Me and your mom were positive that he'd choose us, and so we were joking around, saying that it'd be too much of a responsiblity for us. Then, he chose Uncle Hyde and Aunt Jackie!" Eric threw his hands in the air for exaggeration, laughing. "We were so mad. We kept on asking him, 'why?' And, Aunt Jackie kept rubbing it in our faces, too. Then Uncle Kelso said that he chose Uncle Hyde and Aunt Jackie because he figured they'd last longer, even though they always broke up." He shook his head slowly. "I guess in a way, Kelso was right. I mean, I'm pretty sure Hyde and Jackie are together now."

Then again, nobody could ever tell.

Charlotte smiled. "Tell me another one."

Eric laughed, going through his brain in order to think of more stories to tell the little girl. 


	7. VII

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They mean a lot, really :). And to ghostwriter626, the age difference is probably about two years. Betsy was born in 1979, and Charlotte was born circa 1981, so I'd say Betsy is about two years older, making her currently eight years old.

00000

One more week had past, and things were slowly becoming normal. Eric and Charlotte still had the closest bond. Charlotte and Betsy were becoming best friends whenever she'd come to visit, making everybody happy to see her reaching out. Eric still told Charlotte stories about when they were younger --everyday there would be a new one, he promised-- so she learned more about her mother than ever.

Jackie and Hyde were now at the point where they wouldn't admit that they were together --not unlike when they first got together when they were younger-- but they still would continually fool around.

Fez got another job as a shampoo boy at the salon, and he still enjoyed it very much, considering it to be his 'passion', while Kelso was working in the security section of a well-known department store, somewhat fulfilling his law enforcement dreams.

It was a Saturday, and everybody was out of the house except for Jackie, Eric, and Charlotte. Jackie was doing some paperwork at the table, while Eric was hanging out with Charlotte in the living room.

Jackie was scribbling furiously on a paper when the doorbell rang. "Damn it," she said, getting ready to stand up.

"No, I'll get it." Eric got up and opened the door. "Uh... Jackie, there's somebody here to see you!" he called into the kitchen.

Jackie gave a confused look and stood up, walking into the living room. Then she gasped when she saw Cary.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, incredulous.

"I had to say one last goodbye, Jackie," Cary said, his face serious.

"I should get out of your way..." Eric said awkwardly. "C'mon, Char, let's go in your room."

Jackie stepped closer to her former lover. "Cary, why three weeks later?" she asked.

"I-I couldn't get some time off work any time soon. But I couldn't take it anymore. I had to see you," he said, reaching out to cradle her face in his hands.

Jackie smiled sadly at him. "I know. I missed you, too. It was really hard at first, being without you," she said, slightly lying as she recalled her quick hookup with Hyde.

"And it's been hard for me. Jackie, I love you," Cary said, tilting her face toward him as they met for a kiss. It was long and romantic, but she felt slightly guilty.

He wrapped his arms around her. "Jackie, I'm willing to stay here with you, too. It's gonna be really difficult, but not as hard as it's been without you."

Jackie slowly pulled away from his grasp. "Cary, you... you can't do that," she said slowly.

"Why not? If you're worried about my job and everything, don't be. I'll have that all under control, believe me," Cary said reassuringly.

"No, it's not that," Jackie said, biting her lip. "Cary, you know I love you... a lot. But I'm kind of with somebody else right now. And it'd be wrong to do that to him."

"You've found somebody else already?" The hurt in his eyes was clearly visible. "That fast?"

"I'm sorry," Jackie said, not looking him in the eyes for fear that she'd feel too bad. "I really am."

"No, it's... it's fine, I guess." Cary shrugged. "I couldn't expect you to wait around for me the whole time. I'm gonna go then."

"Okay." Jackie sighed. This was the guy, her dream guy. The guy who showered her with affection, and loved her, and was everything she ever wanted. She still loved him, she knew that. But she had always loved Hyde, and she wasn't gonna throw that all away.

She hugged him again, holding on for a while, until she finally let go. "I don't think it's good for me and you to see each other anymore," she said sadly.

"Yeah... I guess so." He put his shoes back on and hugged her one last time, kissing her on the cheek. "Love you, Jackie," he called as he walked out of the door.

She smiled weakly as the door shut. Then she ran to Charlotte's room, where she found Eric and Charlotte looking through some Star Wars action figures.

"Please, God, no," Jackie said as she witnessed the sight. "Eric, please don't teach her how to be a skywalker or whatever it is you're always talking about."

Eric rolled his eyes. "The correct term is 'jedi'. You're getting it confused with Luke Sk-"

"Yeah, like I care," Jackie said, waving her hand in the air. "Anyway, what I want to say, to /both/ of you, is that I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention Cary coming over, at all, ever again."

Eric raised his eyebrows. "Did I hear some 'love you's' in there, or was it my imagination?"

"Eric, I swear," Jackie started.

"Wait, I don't get it," Charlotte cut in. "Are you married to Cary or Uncle Hyde?"

"Oh, no, honey, I'm not married to anybody," Jackie said.

"Well, who are you married to?" she asked, turning to Eric.

"Uh, nobody," he responded, thinking of when he didn't show up for he and Donna's wedding. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What could have happened if he would have attended? Would Charlotte be /his/ daughter?

"Is /anybody/ married?" Charlotte asked.

"Not in this household, nope," Eric stated, just as Hyde walked through the bedroom door.

"Man, I've been calling all around the house for you guys. What's up?" he said, joining them on the floor.

"Nothin' just having a nice talk with Charlotte about... marriage," Eric finished.

Hyde gave them a confused look, then shook his head. "Anyway, I saw a car leaving the driveway when I was coming in," he said. "Who was that?"

Jackie jumped. "Um, that was... it was..."

"The UPS guy," Eric finished for her.

"Man, that was a Buick, not a UPS truck," Hyde pointed out.

"Yeah, the company must be facing hard times or something," Eric said. "Maybe they can't afford the cars anymore."

"Uh, well, what did it deliver?" Hyde asked.

"One of Charlotte's... toys," Eric said, holding up a Star Wars action figure.

"R2D2? You sure that's not yours?" Hyde asked, inspecting the toy, then shrugging. "Whatever."

Kelso walked in the door with Fez and Betsy. "I've got cupcakes!" he declared.

Charlotte jumped up, and she and Betsy sat down on the floor together, then looked at the adults. "Uh, are you guys gonna leave? 'Cause we're gonna play with our Barbies now."

Jackie laughed. "I think it's clear that we're unwanted here. Let's go." They all got up and went to the kitchen.

00000

It was night now, and Jackie and Hyde were in her room, making out on the bed. When they broke apart, Hyde rolled to his side so he could face Jackie, his arm still around her.

"So what was the deal with the 'UPS' car today? I don't completely believe Forman on that one," he said.

"It's true," Jackie said, her tone not very believable.

"Ha, yeah, right," Hyde said. "Who was it, seriously?"

Jackie sighed and bit her lip, not sure what to say.

He took his arm off of her, and sat up. "Who was it, Jacks?" He didn't see the big deal.

"It was... Cary," she admitted.

Hyde gave her a weird look. "What was he doing here?"

"He said that... he was willing to move out here for me. That he missed me." She sighed, leaning back onto the bed.

"What'd you say back to him?" Hyde asked.

"Well... I told him no, obviously. I said I had somebody else. He was sad, of course, but he said he understood. Then he left," Jackie said.

"Nothing else?" Hyde raised his eyebrows.

"No," Jackie said, her voice squeaking, making it sound more like a question.

"Jackie," he said seriously, making her face him.

She sighed. "He kissed me. But that's it."

"Fine, Jackie. You don't have to fuckin' lie about it," Hyde said, sighing.

"That's why I didn't tell you. I knew you'd get mad," Jackie said.

"I'm not mad because of that; I'm mad since you kept lying," Hyde said.

"So you're /not/ mad that he kissed me? But what if we did more? You don't care?" Jackie asked frantically.

"Jacks, relax," Hyde said. "I guess I would care if he did more."

"You guess?" Jackie asked, giving him a look.

"Whatever, don't ruin this," Hyde said, and they kissed again. 


	8. VIII

A few days later, everybody was in the kitchen, just sitting around.

"Let's get pizza for dinner," Jackie decided. "Nobody can really cook here anyway. Sound good?"

Everybody nodded in agreement. "Yeah, definitely."

"Okay, Eric... since your the one who isn't needed around here most, you can go get the pizza," Jackie ordered.

"Hey!" Fez interrupted. "I am not needed around here either. Why shouldn't I get it?"

"Because you'll eat the whole thing before you get home," Jackie told him. "Plus, Eric has a car. You don't."

"Ah, good point, my friend," Fez said after considering the idea. "Cheesy foods do tend to bring out the worst in me."

Jackie nodded in agreement and then turned to Eric in order to give him a 'look'.

"Ugh, fine," Eric said, standing up from his seat and walking out of the room. "Char, you wanna come?"

"No, Aunt Jackie's showing me something," Charlotte called from the kitchen.

"Alright." Eric grabbed his keys and left. The Little Caesar's was just down the road, but the roads were getting icy, so he felt slightly nervous getting out on the road.

Once he pulled in his parking space, he walked up to the door. Just as he was entering the door, he slipped on a patch of ice, falling on a woman, and causing the pizza box to open, and the pizza slid down her coat.

"Oh my God!" Eric stood up and reached out his hand to her in order to help her up. "I am so sorry. Oh my God, I'll pay for that," he said, pointing to the pizza. "And that," he added, pointing to her coat, which was now covered in pizza sauce.

She shook her head. "It's fine, really."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Are you serious? I just totally injured you, destroyed your clothes, ruined your pizza, and I'm pretty sure that if you sued me, you could get away with adding attempt of rape to that list, too."

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, I'm fine. It wasn't your fault. It was this damn pizza chain for not salting their sidewalks. It could have happened to anybody."

Eric smiled. "I really am sorry. Ugh, I'm gonna be thinking about that all night now, and feeling horrible about it."

"Seriously, it's fine," she said, smiling.

Eric took a good look at her. She reminded him a bit of Donna. Her hair was long and red, curled, with a hat on her head, and she wore a long, black coat, which was now also covered in pizza sauce.

He offered her his hand. "I'm Eric."

She smiled and shook it. "I'm Amy."

"Nice to meet you, Amy," Eric said. "Now, let me ask. Did I ruin this pizza just for you, or did I ruin it for a whole family, too?"

Amy smiled, shaking her head. "Well, just me, my mom, and my sister-in-law."

"Oh. Where's the husband?" Eric asked, slightly disappointed.

"There is no husband," Amy said, shrugging. "She's my brother's wife."

"Ah." Eric nodded. "I see. What about your boyfriend?"

"Don't have one of those, either," Amy said. "What about you?"

"Same." Eric shrugged. "Y'know." He looked at his surroundings. "Well, let's go back inside, and I'll rebuy your pizza. And mine. Not that we're sharing a pizza, I mean... two seperate pizzas. The one that I was bringing home, and the one that you were bringing home. Not that I wouldn't mind sharing a pizza with you, but-"

Amy laughed. "You're cute. And sure, let's go in." She walked in with him and he bought their pizzas. As they walked out, they made sure to avoid the patch of ice that Eric had previously slipped on.

"I'm gonna feel bad about this for, like... forever now," Eric said, laughing.

Amy shook her head. "There's no need, really."

"No, I mean... I really feel bad. You sure it's okay? I'm not gonna get a letter from the court next week?" Eric joked.

"I swear," Amy said. "Here, how about you make it up to me by meeting me at the restaurant here next door on... Friday?"

"Well..." He trailed off jokingly.

"No, I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to!" Amy cut in, misinterpreting his lack of words.

"No, I'm joking," Eric reassured. "I would love to meet up with you here on Friday. So, see you then?"

She smiled at him. "Definitely. Same time, same place. Um, well, see you later, I guess." She walked to her car.

Eric did the same. As he pulled out, he caught a glimpse of Amy in her car. He waved to her as he drove off.

00000

When he got home, Eric was all smiles. Everybody was finishing their pizza at the table, besides the kids, who had finished early in order to play. Finally, somebody noticed.

"Why're you all smiley, Eric?" Kelso asked.

"Yes, Eric, you do seem exceptionally happy tonight," Fez added.

Eric shrugged. "Nothing really."

"C'mon, Forman. Last time I saw you this happy was when the new Star Wars came out," Hyde said.

"Yeah, you sure nothing happened at the pizza place?" Jackie asked.

"Well, I slipped on a patch of ice, fell on some girl, and made her spill her pizza all over her coat," Eric said.

Hyde, Kelso, and Fez started cracking up. "Typical Eric," Kelso said.

"Aw! Was it fur? Please, /please/, don't tell me it was fur, Eric," Jackie asked.

"No, it wasn't. But she was so cool about it. And I bought her a new pizza, and... I have a date with her on Friday!" Eric grinned and stuck out his tongue.

"Forman's got a date?" Hyde asked. "Wow. That's the first in... like, ever."

Eric gave him a knowing look. "Uh, Donna?"

Hyde shrugged. "Oh yeah."

"Wow. I'm surprised, Eric," Jackie said. "But, hopefully it works out. What's her name?"

"Amy," Eric said. "She's a redhead, just like Donna was."

Fez smiled. "Must be your cup of tea."

"We'll find out," Eric said, grinning.

00000

On Friday, Eric was getting ready for his date when Charlotte walked in his room.

"What're you doing?" she asked, sitting on his bed and swinging her legs back and forth.

"I have a date tonight," he said, smiling at her as he fixed his jacket.

Charlotte frowned. "I don't want you to leave tonight. I can stay up late tonight since it's Friday."

He knelt down in front of her. "I know, but... I really want to go on this date tonight. Did you know that Betsy's coming tonight?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to watch a movie with you tonight," she said.

"I'm sorry, Char," Eric said, bringing the girl in his arms. "I'll be back before you know it."

Charlotte giggled as he kissed her cheeks over and over. "Before I fall asleep?"

"Sure thing, kiddo," Eric said. "And if not, I'll make sure to say goodnight to you if you're in bed."

"And you'll wake me up and tell me a story about when you were little, right?" she asked.

"I'm not gonna wake you up, Char, you'll probably kill me if I do that, if you have your mother's rage," Eric explained, laughing. "I'll leave that up to Aunt Jackie tonight, okay?"

Charlotte sighed dramatically. "Fine."

"All right. You think I'm ready?" Eric asked, standing up so she could see his outfit.

"No! You need shoes!" Charlotte grinned.

"Oh, yep, I do." Eric walked over and put some shoes on. "Okay, I'll see you later." He gave her a big hug. "Love ya, kiddo."

"Love you, too, Uncle Eric!" she called to him as he left.

00000

Eric arrived as quick as he could, looking for Amy, but not seeing her. After waiting a few minutes, he wished that they had exchanged numbers so he could see what was going on. Then he thought about it. He was being stood up. That's great, considering this night was the highlight of his entire week.

Then, just as he was thinking that, Amy stepped out of a car and started rushing toward him. "I'm so sorry I'm late; it's just my mom-"

"Hey, slow down there," Eric said, smiling at her. "Remember what happened to me when I ran on this sidewalk?"

Amy laughed, recalling the memory.

"So, you ready to go in?" Eric asked.

"Beyond," Amy answered. "It's freezing out here."

"C'mon," Eric said, holding the door open for her.

"Thanks," she said graciously as she stepped through.

They got a table and sat down.

"So, uh... how was your week?" Eric asked.

"It was... good," Amy said.

The two of them finally started having a full-on conversation, and eventually their whole stories came out.

Eric told the whole story of Donna. Amy patiently listened and sympathized, and told him about how both of her siblings were already married, and how her mother always ragged on her for not even having a boyfriend. Her mother was so excited that she had a date, that she made sure that everything was set before she left. Eric told her that he didn't understand how she couldn't have had a boyfriend in a while, since she was so pretty.

00000

Back at the house, it was about ten, and Charlotte was exhausted.

Kelso, Fez, and Betsy were watching TV with her on the couch. Jackie happened to walk by them and noticed Charlotte continually yawning.

"Char, honey, why don't you go to bed?" Jackie asked her.

"I want Uncle Eric to be here," Charlotte said.

"Honey, I know, but Uncle Eric isn't here right now, and there's no use in waiting for him. How about we get you ready for bed and I'll tell you one of those stories that he always tells you, okay?" Jackie asked.

Charlotte pouted. "All right."

Jackie got Charlotte all set in bed. She sat next to the bed, effortly trying to think of a good story to tell.

"Did Uncle Eric ever tell you about the time we found out that he was in roller disco?" Jackie asked, laughing.

"No," Charlotte said, starting to laugh.

"Well, I think we know our story for the night," Jackie answered, remembering the details of that day.

00000

It was 12:30, and the restaurant was closing. Eric paid the bill and stood up.

"You know, I had a really great time tonight with you," Eric said shyly.

"Me too," Amy said. "We should do it again soon. Really soon."

"Yeah," Eric said. "Only this time... could I get your number?"

"Oh! Yeah." She pulled a napkin off the table and wrote it down. "Write yours, too," she told him.

As they walked out of the restaurant, they gave each other a hug before walking away. While on the way to the car, Eric looked over at Amy, who was looking at him, too.

Both of them smiled and started walking towards each other again. Once they met, so did their lips, and they didn't remember much after that. 


	9. IX

It was now two in the morning. Charlotte had just woken up in the middle of the night, scared since she just had a nightmare. She crawled out of bed and walked down the hall, opening up Eric's door.

She walked in, and it was dark, obviously. She looked in the bed but didn't see a figure in it this time.

Charlotte was confused. He had to be home by now. Where was he?

She went into Jackie's room, surprised to find Hyde in the bed with her. Charlotte tugged on Jackie's arm, which was hanging off of the bed.

"Hmm?" Jackie asked, rolling over, but still asleep.

"Aunt Jackie," Charlotte whispered, trying to get her to wake up. Finally, Charlotte could slightly see her eyes opening.

"What's wrong, Char?" she asked, sitting up.

"Uncle Eric still isn't home. I think something happened to him," Charlotte explained, whispering.

"No, honey, I'm sure he's fine. He might still be... out," Jackie told her.

"But it's the middle of the night," Charlotte said. "We should call the police!"

"Shh," Jackie whispered, pointing to Hyde sleeping next to her. "No, honey, we don't have to. He's fine, I promise."

"Promise?" Charlotte looked uneasy. "Well, okay."

She went back to bed, still afraid. She laid awake for what seemed like hours, but was only the course of thirty minutes. Then, she heard the door open downstairs.

She froze in fear. Was it a burglar? Wait, was it Uncle Eric?

Charlotte slowly crawled out of bed, tiptoeing downstairs where she saw a tall silhouette near the door.

"Uncle Eric?" she whispered.

Eric jumped, gasping. "Char? What are you doing up?"

"Why are you home so late?" she inquired him.

"Did you sleep at all tonight?" Eric asked, ignoring her question.

"Yes." Charlotte looked down. "It's late."

"I know, honey. I'm sorry," he apologized. "On the plus side... well, I had a good time." He laughed, then saw she didn't have a reaction. He leaned down and picked her up.

"Uncle Eric, I miss my mommy tonight." Charlotte buried her face in his shoulder.

Eric sighed, still holding the girl. He was trying to avoid the subject of Donna, as the night was going so well. "I know you do."

"I used to wake up in the middle of the night and get scared, and even if she had work in the morning she'd still come in and talk to me to get me to fall asleep," Charlotte said.

Eric just nodded and put her down since he couldn't carry her upstairs. "Come on, let's go upstairs."

He started walking up the stairs and she followed. Eric reached her room and tucked Charlotte in bed.

"Uncle Eric, I don't want to sleep. I wanna hear another story," Charlotte said.

Eric sighed. He was tired, but she clearly wasn't. And, she obviously had her mother's stubbornness, so he gave up.

"All right." He sat against the bed on his knees. "I've been saving this one for a long night. But I think now's an okay time to tell it."

Eric paused, causing Charlotte to nod, as if to say 'go on.'

"Okay, well... one time me and your mommy broke up for a while. She started dating Uncle Kelso's brother, and I had nobody. It hurt pretty bad to see them together, since I loved her so much..." Eric trailed off, looking at the wall for a minute. "When they broke up, she was really upset. She came to me and said that we should be together, and she cried to me. I hugged her, but I said that I wouldn't be her second choice, which made her cry even more. I felt really bad, but... I mean, I was angry about it. Then she ran off to California with Uncle Kelso, since he was running away from marrying Aunt Jackie-"

"Wait," Charlotte interrupted. "Aunt Jackie and Uncle Kelso were getting married?"

"Oh, yeah, they were together for a long time," Eric said, nodding. "But... after a while, I realized that I needed her. And I left without telling Grandma Kitty or Grandpa Red to go see her. And it was so amazing when I saw her." He smiled at the memory. "And during that time, I guess Aunt Jackie and Uncle Hyde got... together, too." He shuddered at the memory.

"And they're together now." Charlotte nodded.

"Yup." Eric leaned his head back on the bed. "I miss her."

"Me too." Charlotte sighed. "If you loved her so much... then why didn't you follow her to Madison like you did to California?"

Eric shook his head. "I don't know. Because I'm dumb. I tried to tell myself it didn't matter."

Charlotte got out of bed and sat by her father figure, hugging him. "She wanted you to."

Eric looked at the little girl. "How do you know?"

"I can tell. I mean, I remember. She never went on dates." Charlotte shrugged.

"Well..." Eric trailed off uneasily. "Did you ever see your dad?"

Charlotte shook her head. "No. I don't have one."

Eric decided to leave it at that. He didn't want to go in depth and accidentally give away a 'detail.'

"Okay. Well, then, how about you go to bed then. 'Cause I've gotta sleep," Eric said.

"Fine." Charlotte crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her. "'Night."

Eric kissed her. "Goodnight, Char." He walked to the door and was about to shut it.

"Uncle Eric?" Charlotte's voice said quietly.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I love you."

Eric smiled. "I love you, too, Char." He shut the door and went to his room, falling asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

00000

Eric woke up to Charlotte shaking him awake. "Uncle Eric!"

"What?" he asked.

"Can you make me breakfast?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Where's Aunt Jackie?" Eric asked.

"She's sick," Charlotte said. "And everybody else is at work."

"Jackie's sick?" Eric asked. "Well, I'll go check on her, I guess." He walked to Jackie's room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Jackie's voice rang out.

Eric opened the door to see Jackie laying in bed. She didn't look sick, just tired.

"I heard that you're sick," he said.

"Uh, yeah, well I was throwing up," she said.

Eric raised his eyebrows. "Okay, I didn't have to know that."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Anyway, how was your date last night?"

"I'll tell you after I make Charlotte breakfast," he said. Then, he shut the door and made Charlotte some cereal. Finally, he walked back to Jackie's room.

"It was great," he said to Jackie. "I really like her a lot."

"That's good," Jackie said. "I mean, I really think that Do- never mind."

"No, what were you gonna say?" Eric asked.

"Um... I was gonna say that I think Donna would want this for you," Jackie said.

Eric shrugged. "Thanks, Devil. And yeah, I think so. I mean, Amy's so great, and she's almost exactly like Donna, but she's still different, y'know? And I think that she really likes me. It's like-"

He was cut off by Jackie running out of bed and into the bathroom. The sound of her retching was clearly heard as he stood there in shock.

"Uh, Jackie? Are... are you okay?" he called once the retching ceased.

He heard Jackie get up and walk out. She wiped her mouth and sat down on her bed. "Yeah, I think so."

"Do you... think you have the flu or something?" Eric asked.

Jackie shrugged. "Probably." Then she grinned at Eric. "So you were out pretty late, huh? You guys...?"

Eric laughed. "Way to be blunt. Yeah, that's why I was there so late."

"Sex on the first date?" Jackie laughed. "That's like..." Her face quickly turned sour as she ran to the bathroom and threw up again.

"Jackie, are you sure you're good?" Eric asked.

"Yeah!" Jackie insisted once she returned in the bedroom. "I mean, it's not like I could be..." She trailed off in thought, thinking back to the day they had moved in quite a few weeks ago. "Ohmigod." She stood up abruptly. "I'm pregnant!"

Eric just stared at her in shock. "Uh... what?"

"I mean... not for sure, but... maybe! Steven and I... well, you know, the day we moved in! Without... well, you know," Jackie said excitedly.

"Wait... you mean to tell me... that you and Hyde... are gonna be parents?" Eric was stunned.

"Well, I don't know. I'll be right back; I'm going to the drugstore!" Jackie excitedly ran out as Eric shook his head. Wait until Hyde heard this one.

00000

The second Jackie noticed the plus sign on the test in her hand, she made a doctor appointment.

"Eric!" she yelled, running through the house. "I was right!"

She finally got to where he was, in the living room while Charlotte watched TV.

Eric stood up and looked at her. "Oh, wow." He shrugged. "Now what do I do? Do I hug you? Congratulate you? What?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I knew I wouldn't get a reaction from you." She pushed past him and sat next to Charlotte on the couch. "Guess what, Char?"

"What?" Charlotte turned around to face Jackie.

"I'm gonna have a baby!" Jackie grinned at the thought.

Charlotte was surprised. "When?"

"In about nine months." Jackie beamed.

Eric cut in, "Wait... why is this good? You're not even married."

"/Because/, Eric, now we have to get married. I mean, if we have a child together!" Jackie threw her hands in the air for exaggeration.

"You're still crazy," Eric said, recalling the time that Jackie had gone wedding shopping with him and tried on the wedding dress. "I don't know how Hyde'll go for this."

"Well, he has no choice, now, does he?" Jackie put her hands on her hips. "He /has/ to."

Eric shrugged. "I guess not."

Just as he said that, the door opened and Hyde walked in.

"Hey, guys, what's up," Hyde greeted casually as he sat down on the couch.

Eric turned to Charlotte. "Hey, Char, wanna make some popcorn? This should be good."

Charlotte grinned. "Sure!" 


	10. X

"Steven, we have to talk," Jackie said, smiling a tiny bit.

Hyde gave her a wary look. "Okay..."

"Okay, so... you remember that one night? Like, the first night we moved here." Jackie raised her eyebrows in hopes that he did.

"No... well, wait. When we... yeah, I remember." He gave her a knowing look, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Jackie nervously laughed, then stepped closer to him. "Steven, I'm pregnant."

Hyde's smile went away. "What?"

"We're gonna be parents..." Jackie trailed off.

"Oh. Yeah. Wow." Hyde sat down.

"Are you okay?" asked Jackie.

"Yeah... I mean... wow."

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Hyde and Jackie were sitting on the couch, talking, when Eric walked in.

"So I'm thinking about bringing Amy over tonight," he said.

"That'd be great," Jackie said. Normally she would have sounded more enthusiastic, but she was in a quiet mood due to Hyde's reaction. "I've been wanting to meet her."

"Great. Well, I called her earlier, and she said it sounded great, so... I'm gonna see what time she wants me to get her," Eric said.

"Alright."

An hour later, Eric returned to the house.

"Guys, this is Amy." Eric took Amy's coat for her as she stepped in.

"Whoa, Forman! How do you always get so lucky?" Kelso called from the kitchen.

Eric rolled his eyes. "And that is Michael always-makes-a-good-impression Kelso."

"Nice to meet you all," Amy said politely, laughing at Kelso's comment.

"This is, uh, Jackie, Hyde, and Fez. And Charlotte's in her room, I think," Eric said.

"Hi." Amy waved awkwardly.

Jackie got up to properly introduce herself to Amy. "Hey, I'm Jackie."

"Hey." Amy smiled. "Wow, you're really pretty."

"I know," Jackie said, smiling. "Oh, but so are you!"

It was true. Amy had dark red hair, light skin, and hazel eyes. She was very pretty.

"Thanks," Amy said, smiling.

Fez went up to Amy. "Might as well," he said as he went to hug her, but Eric blocked him off.

"Believe me, you don't know what he does when he hugs," Eric said.

Amy laughed. "Alright, this is pretty strange."

"Yeah, I know. Oh, um, I'll go get Charlotte," Eric said, running down the hall.

A few seconds later, he emerged with Charlotte.

"Charlotte, this is my friend Amy," Eric said.

"Hi, Amy," Charlotte said.

"Nice to meet you, Charlotte." Amy smiled.

"Nice to meet you, too," Charlotte said absentmindedly.

"Char, Amy's the girl I was telling you about," explained Eric.

"The one you went on a date with?" Charlotte asked.

"Yup, that's her," Eric said.

"You were talking about me?" asked Amy. "How nice."

Eric smiled at her, and then looked back at Charlotte. "Alright, well we're gonna go back in the kitchen. We'll call you out when dinner's done."

"Okay," Charlotte said. She wasn't too happy about meeting Amy. She was the reason why Uncle Eric had been gone so much lately. He had been out late, and couldn't tell her stories like he usually did. But, she was not an impolite girl for the most part, so she did her best to conceal her displeasure.

"She seems sweet," Amy said as she and Eric walked out of Charlotte's room.

"Oh, she is," Eric said. "She's usually louder though. She's probably just shy."

"You seem to be really close with her," said Amy. "She must see you as a father figure, huh?"

"Yeah, I sure hope so," Eric said. "I definitely see her as a daughter."

"That's so sweet." Amy smiled, then her face grew somewhat worried. "You know, my mom keeps talking about how she wants to meet you. I'm pretty sure she doesn't believe that you exist."

"And why would that be?" Eric asked. "You're gorgeous. I'm surprised you even like me!"

Amy laughed. "Thanks, but... no. My sister Roxanne is the pretty one in my family. She's been married for three years now, and has a daughter. And my brother Nick is the oldest. He's been married for almost six years, has two kids, and a great job. I'm the failure of the family."

"Personally, I think you're great," Eric said. "And if you're talking family failures, look no further. My dad /hated/ me growing up. I could do nothing right, and my sister -who's the devil, by the way- was perfect to him."

"I don't believe it," Amy said. "But I'll have to meet them, I guess."

"Oh, and there's no way your sister is prettier than you, by the way," Eric said.

"Well, thanks." Amy smiled. "But, you haven't met her." She shrugged.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Around seven, after dinner, Eric and Amy left, to drop her off at her house.

"Thanks for tonight," Amy said to Eric as they got in the car. "It was really nice meeting everyone."

"Thanks for coming," Eric said. "You know I love your company." He blushed, and Amy smiled at him.

Eric started the car, and began driving.

"You know," Amy said, "I'm really glad we met."

Eric smiled at her from the driver's side. "I am, too."


	11. XI

When Eric returned home, everybody was waiting for him on the couch.

"Eric, how do you always get the red-haired beauties?" Fez asked. "Fez would like a red-haired beauty!"

Eric smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, Fez." He looked over at Charlotte, who was half asleep, with her head on Jackie's shoulder. "Char?" He kneeled down in front of her.

She opened her eyes slowly. "Huh?"

"What did you think of Amy?" he asked.

Charlotte yawned sleepily. "She was pretty."

Eric smiled. "Yeah. You wanna head to bed? I'll take you upstairs," he offered.

Charlotte nodded. "Yeah."

Eric looked at the rest of the gang. "Be right down." He led Charlotte up the stairs and took her to her room. Once Charlotte got settled in bed, Eric tucked her in.

"Alright, Charlotte," he said as he started to stand up. "I'm gonna head back downstairs."

Charlotte shook her head. "No, tell me a story!"

Eric stopped and smiled. "Alright." He got back down, next to Charlotte's bed, and watched her hug her teddy bear. "You like that bear, don't you?"

Charlotte nodded. "My mommy got it for me when she first got sick. She got it from the hospital."

"Oh." Eric said, and thought for a moment. "Your mommy was a good person."

Charlotte looked wide-eyed at Eric, and nodded. "I miss her so much." She looked down and Eric saw a few tears fall when she blinked.

"Aw, Charlotte." Eric scooted closer to her. "I know you do. It'll be okay, though. She's in a better place now." He nodded along with his story. "She's watching over you."

"Really?" Charlotte asked, and Eric nodded.

"She's watching me and you right now, and she's probably really happy that you've got me and everyone else." He smiled. "And she's probably laughing at the fact that Aunt Jackie and Uncle Hyde are back together. She's probably happy that the group is all together again, all because of her, and you."

Charlotte smiled. "That's good."

Eric nodded. "I know." He thought for a moment. "I wonder what story I should tell tonight."

"Make it a good one!" Charlotte ordered, and Eric smiled.

"Alright." He took a deep breath, knowing that this would be a hard story to tell.

"Once upon a time, your mommy and I were engaged."

"What's engaged mean?" Charlotte interrupted.

"We were gonna get married," Eric explained, and continued. "We kept it a secret for a while because we were still young and in high school. When we told my mom and dad, they were really upset about it." He frowned, thinking back to it. "But then, they accepted it and got everything planned out." He sighed. "The day before the wedding, I… I took off. I left because I got scared. I wish that I never ever did that." He closed his eyes, remembering. "We never got married, and I've been so mad at myself for it ever since."

Charlotte nodded with sadness in her eyes. "If you and my mommy had gotten married, would you be my daddy?"

Eric looked sad. "Yeah, probably." He looked up at the little girl. "But Charlotte, I want you to know that I think of you as a daughter and I… I hope you can see me as your daddy."

"Uncle Eric," Charlotte's eyes looked hopeful. "Can you be my daddy?"

Eric felt his heart rise and fall. He didn't know what to say. Then, he nodded slowly.

"You know what, Char? I can be your daddy." He looked down at the little girl to see her response.

She slowly smiled a wide smile. "So… does that mean I can call you Daddy?"

Eric nodded. "Yep." He smiled and noticed a few tears in Charlotte's eyes.

"Oh, Daddy!" Charlotte jumped out of bed and threw her arms around Eric. "I love you."

Eric smiled and hugged her back, feeling a tear fall down his cheek. "I love you, too, daughter."

"Knock, knock," a voice said at the door, and Eric turned around after wiping his eyes.

"Jackie," he said slowly, noting the concern in her eyes.

"What's-" Jackie started to ask, but Eric shook his head, indicating that he'd tell her later.

Jackie walked in the room. "Charlotte, are you tired?"

Charlotte nodded, and Jackie walked towards her.

"I just wanted to say good night," Jackie said. She gave Charlotte a hug, Eric another look of worry, and left the room.

"Good night, Aunt Jackie," Charlotte said after her, and looked back at Eric. "So you're my daddy now?"

Eric nodded. "Yes, I am."

Charlotte thought for a moment. "Wow. I have a daddy." She grinned and hugged Eric again. "Daddy, I'm tired. Will you tuck me back in?"

Eric smiled at her and nodded. "Of course, Char." Charlotte got in bed and he put the covers around her and kissed her good night. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Daddy." Charlotte smiled, and Eric reciprocated. Then, he got up, walked out, and closed the door.

Eric went downstairs and saw the gang in the living room. Kelso and Fez were on the couch; Jackie and Hyde were in the chair. He walked down and sat next to Fez on the couch.

Hyde looked at him. "You cryin', man?"

Eric shook his head. "No. I mean, not anymore."

Jackie looked concerned. "Explain to me what happened up there."

"She…" Eric looked away in thought. "She asked me to be her dad."

Jackie raised her eyebrows. "And…?"

"I said I would. And so, I'm gonna see if I can adopt her. Listen, I love her. She's Donna's, and… I would give anything for her to be my real daughter." He frowned.

"Aw, Eric," Jackie said slowly.

Eric nodded. "This is really important to me right now. This is… what I want."

"Well, that's good," Fez said with a nod. "You need to do what you want, Eric."

"Yeah." Eric stood up. "Well, I'm going to bed. Night, gang."

"Night," everybody said, and Eric went upstairs.

"So," Kelso said, turning to Jackie. "You and Hyde are… havin' a baby?"

Hyde looked straight ahead in a bored stare, while Jackie grinned.

"Yes! Isn't it great?" She beamed.

"Yeah." Kelso smiled and looked over at Hyde. "So, Hyde… not too happy about the whole thing, huh?"

Hyde just grunted.

Kelso grinned and looked at Jackie. "Jackie, I'm willing to give everything up to help you in this situation, since Hyde isn't too keen on the idea." He leaned over to her and put an arm around her. "I'm here for ya," he whispered, and Hyde leaned over and punched him in the arm.

"I _am_ here, you moron," Hyde muttered. "I just… it's not right for us to have this kid like this. It's a bad time, and-"

"Maybe you and Jackie should have thought about that before you guys did it!" Fez said. "I am _always _careful."

"Fez, you don't do it," Kelso said.

"I would if I had offers!" Fez cried.

Jackie sighed. "Steven, maybe this wasn't supposed to happen, but this is what _did _happen, and you need to accept that. Our child is growing inside of me, and you need to be there to help me!"

Hyde put his head back and sighed. "Jackie, can we not talk about this in front of Kelso and Fez?"

"Fine, let's go upstairs!" Jackie said, and started walking up.

Hyde groaned and followed her.

"Good luck, buddy!" Fez called after him, and Kelso grinned.

"When this is over, it'll just be me and Jackie."

Hyde went upstairs, into his and Jackie's room.

"Steven, I-" Jackie started to say.

"Jackie, of course I'm going to be there," Hyde said. "I'm not like Bud. I'm just mad that things happened like this. I'm obviously gonna help you and be here with you."

"But I need you to… can you make a long term commitment to me now?" Jackie asked.

Hyde shrugged. "Not now, Jackie. Please, just let this go."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "For God's sake, Steven, are you ever going to say yes? Am I not the right girl for you or something?" She sat down and felt her eyes well up with tears. "I mean, can you imagine yourself being with someone other than me."

Hyde thought for a minute and shrugged slowly.

Jackie glared at him. "Say something!"

He just stared ahead.

"Steven!" Jackie said, and she looked up, tears spilling onto her cheeks.

Hyde frowned. He hated when she cried; he always had. "Jackie," he said softly as he stood up from the bed.

"What?" Jackie said angrily, crossing her arms.

"Don't cry, okay?" He attempted to walk over to her and put his arms around her, but she backed away.

"Give me an answer or go away, Steven," Jackie said, not looking at him.

Hyde sighed and turned around. He didn't want to look her in the eye. "Fine, Jackie. I can't imagine being with anybody other than you, but being tied down scares me."

"Why?" Jackie asked. "It shouldn't!"

"I don't know; it just does." Hyde sat back down.

"Do you love me?" Jackie asked. Hyde nodded. "Isn't that enough of an answer then?"

Hyde shrugged. "I don't know."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Go away, Steven."

"No, Jackie, I-"

"Go away!"

Hyde leaned his head back, taking a deep breath, and stood up, and walked up to her. She glared at him.

"Didn't you hear me?" she asked.

"Yeah," Hyde said. "I'm not Kelso, though, and I don't take orders like he does." He stepped closer. "What're you gonna do, leave me?" He looked in her eyes, and when she didn't say anything, he spoke again. "Jackie, I'm gonna be here, I promise. Just a little time is all I need."

Jackie frowned, and didn't say anything.

oOoOoOo

"Ready to meet my mom?" Amy asked, eyebrows raised. "Believe me, she's no… regular mom."

"It'll be fine," Eric said. "Wasn't she ragging on you for not having a boyfriend?"

"It's always something new," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "I'm the least favorite of my family, I think."

Eric's eyes widened. "Me too!"

Amy smiled. "I can't believe that." She unlocked the door and opened it, taking a deep breath. "Alright, Eric."

"Amy, is that you?" a voice rang out.

"Yeah, Rox!" Amy yelled. She turned to Eric. "Everyone's here tonight."

"Ah, more pressure." Eric grinned.

They walked into the home, which was quite large.

"Impressive," Eric said, looking at the staircase and wood floors, along with the extensive hallway.

A pretty dark-haired woman stepped out of the hallway. "Amy, is this your friend?"

"Boyfriend, yeah," Amy said, glancing at Eric. "Eric, this is my sister Roxanne. Roxanne; Eric."

Roxanne smiled an obviously fake smile. "So great to meet you, Eric." She shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, too," Eric said.

"Alright, now… excuse me." Roxanne scurried away.

"And… she's off to tell my mom that you actually do exist," Amy muttered.

Eric raised his eyebrows. "That bad, huh?" He frowned as Amy nodded.

"Come on," Amy said. "Let's go."

They walked into the kitchen, where Roxanne and two other women sat. Two young girls were running about, and a young boy was sitting on one woman's lap.

The first woman was thin, with blonde hair. She had a sophisticated look about her; and a child on her lap. Next to her was a dark haired woman with hair up to her shoulders. She had a tight smirk on her face; a look of amusement flickering through her brown eyes. She had a white dress on, along with a fancy gold necklace.

"Well, Amy," the dark-haired woman said, "Are you going to introduce your friend?"

Roxanne spoke up. "Since Amy won't do it, I will."

"No," Amy said. "Mom, this is Eric, my _boyfriend_."

"So handsome," her mother said, standing up to gently shake Eric's hand. "I'm Beverly."

"Nice to, uh… meet you, Beverly," Eric said with a nod.

"Eric, this is Dawn, my sister-in-law, and her son Gabriel," Amy said. "My brother Nick is… somewhere around here."

Eric shook Dawn's hand. "Nice to meet you." He looked at Gabriel and smiled, and the boy hid in his mother's arms.

"Nick and Dawn's daughter Jocelyn is over with Roxanne's daughter Angeline. Roxanne's husband David couldn't make it tonight," Amy explained.

"Oh," Eric said awkwardly.

"Sit down, Eric," Beverly offered, and looked over at her daughter. "Really, Amy, where are your manners?"

Amy took a deep breath and said nothing.

"Oh no, really, I'd rather stand," Eric said, standing by Amy.

Beverly raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "Well, dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes. Amy, go introduce Eric to your brother."

"Where is he?" Amy asked.

"Living room," Beverly said. Eric and Amy left the room.

"Wow," Eric said. "She really… wow."

"She's nice to everybody but me," Amy admitted. "I don't know why. I never did anything wrong growing up, at least, not things that Roxanne and Nick did. They were the bad ones. I guess she liked that."

"What about your dad?" Eric asked. "Does he ever come around?"

"Well, no," Amy said. "Since the divorce they prefer not to see each other."

"Is he better than her? With you, I mean." Eric looked at Amy.

"Oh, yeah. I think I might actually be his favorite." She smiled. "I just wish he wasn't so far away. Plus, my mom would kill me if I ever left. She needs me too much. I have to do everything for her. That's why I was, fortunately, getting the pizza that night."

"It's like a real life Cinderella, huh?" Eric smiled, and Amy nodded, a playful smile on her lips.

They walked to the living room. "Nick?"

"Hm?" A handsome dark-haired man looked over at them. "Oh, Amy."

"Yeah," Amy said. "This is my boyfriend, Eric. Eric, this is my brother Nick."

"Good to meet you, Eric," Nick said.

"Same to you," Eric said, shaking his hand.

"I bet Mom is disappointed," Nick said with a small smile aimed at his sister. "She was hoping that he didn't exist."

Amy snickered. "Yeah, I know. I'm amazed that she hasn't accused me of faking yet."

"What do you think?" Nick asked, turning to Eric.

Eric shrugged. "She seems…" He trailed off.

Amy laughed, and Nick smiled.

"She's different," Nick simply said. "To Amy, at least."

"I think Nick's the only one in the family that treats me like a human being," Amy said with a glance at her brother. "Well, besides Dad. And Dawn isn't too bad, I guess, but I don't really talk to her."

"Roxanne's talked too much behind your back, huh?" Nick asked his sister, and she nodded.

"Everything I say goes straight to Mom. She's like her miniature." Amy shrugged.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that with me." Nick smiled and sat back down on the couch.

Amy smiled. "Alright, Eric, ready to head back to hell?"

Eric laughed. "Believe me, I was born there."


End file.
